Microsoft Surface Interactive Business Card Reader, Plus Gaming

Australia-based digital agency Amnesia have been playing with their multitouch Microsoft Surface table, and have come up with perhaps the best way to make sure people actually look through the business cards they get showered with at corporate events.  Each of the specially-designed Amnesia cards has a code which the Surface recognizes, calling up contact detail, social networking feeds and more.Video demo after the cut

Since the Surface has a camera underneath its translucent surface, recognizing not only where users' fingers are but what objects are placed on top, it's a relatively straightforward matter to have it spot pre-programmed icon-glyphs (the constellation of white dots on the front of the card) and tie that into a database of people.  The information on offer includes photostreams, recent Tweets and comments, anything the card's owner wants to include.

Of course, the problem is that right now only the Amnesia staff can enjoy the system, as most people don't have access to a $12,000 Surface of their own; we're assuming most of the people in their office know each other already.  However the principle could be extended to digital cards for gaming, such as Razorfish's own "Table Toss", shown in the second video below.

[via istartedsomething]